Trying to complete all my backdated travel blog again...
Hokkaido trip was a birthday present for my mum at the end of 2007, during end of Autumn.
Day 1
We took ANA there and reached very early in the morning. Btw, I love ANA coz they served Haagen Dazs ice cream on plane. Heehee..
Japan was a strange country that only allow 3G phone so i bought my 1st 3G phone before that trip.
When we reached, we went to Odori Park but I dunno why it was so famous. Nothing much to see there. Though it was Autumn, it was very cold and i was shivering there. Felt like buying all the winter wear that i saw.
After that, we went to Salmon Aquarium to see how Salmon produced babies and how they swam back to the same place again. This place was not very interesting too.
Next, we visited Hokkaido Jingu, one of the largest shrines. Before we went into the temple, there was a place for us to wash our hands and face. Japanese would send their new car here to
pray for safety and children have to wear kimono etc to pray when
they reached a certain age (age is diff for boys & girls). My favourite corner of this shrine was the resting hut where they served free cakes and green tea. The japanese rice cake was yummy!
After religious temple tour, we visited Otaru Canal where i think looked like Singapore River. Warehouses at one side and the other side of the canal was people setting up small stalls selling souvenirs and draw
ings of the site. Rickshaw services were provided here too.
Oh ya, i dun like the japanese food served during this tour. Everytime got sashimi. I hate raw food. Anyway, I tried steamboat and teppanyaki that day. Nothing fantastic. Maybe coz i dun like seafood and beef too.
After that, we went to my favourite street in Hokkaido. This street had a lot of stores selling all kinds of chocolate and cookies. Packaging were pretty and chocolates were yummy. Everyone on the street carried a paper bag from various different stores. But the famous butter cream biscuits from liu hua ting was not nice at all. I dun like.
Here, we also visited the Otaru Music Box Museum where they displayed all kinds of pretty music boxes and you could even customised ur own one. But the price was not cheap. One lovely part of the tour was that when we drank coffee at the music box cafe opposite the museum, we were given a cup that contained our drink. There were several designs for us to choose and all were so cute!
That night, we went to view the night scene of Hokkaido at Mt Moiwa but the camera couldn't take such a nice view. I should have tried the video mode that time.
After that, we stayed at APA Hotel and Resort. All the hotels in Japan were quite good. Toilets were impressive and my mum really like the features of those toilet bowls. Can wash, heat etc. Heehee..
Day 2
The next day, we visited Farm Tomita. This was a famous farm in Hokkaido. A lot of tourists would go there to see lavender etc. We tried the lavender ice cream there though the weather was super cold.
After that, we went to take photo at Shooting Star Falls and Silver River Falls. Not very impressive waterfall and the weather was cold until i kept shivering.
That day, we stayed at a hot spring hotel. It was a tatami room and i really dun like it. I had to sit there, drink the free tea and wait till after dinner then they would make my bed for me. So troublesome and usually tatami room was much smaller in size even though u pay the same amount of money. But i tried the body scrub there. Very nice. I felt so clean after that. Pain but worth it. Heehee..
Day 3
The next day, we went to Mt Daisetsu-zan. The place where they shoot Winter Sonata. It was snowing the day before we went, so snow was seen everywhere. But the snow was not thick enough thus the skiing area was not opened yet.
After that, we went to see how sake was being made at Otokoyama Sake Brewery Museum. The sake was made by the spring water there and i refilled my bottle with the water. The staff there was super polite. When we left, they still refused to go inside. Kept waving, smiling and bowing to us.
We visited the Sapporo Beer Factory too. I heard Sapporo Beer can only be found in Hokkaido.
Anyway the most interesting part of this beer trip was that they served beer and juices at the end of the tour and i bought my favourite french fries crackers there. I heard only that store sell this and each person only allowed to buy 1 box. Very yummy! Intro by another Singaporean.
Also, that day, i finally tried a nice udon. It was free flow somemore.
While on the bus, i played with Donny's phone. Donny was my tour guide there. He was the best tour guide i had. Very interesting and nice guy. He was a Singaporean and moved over to stay in Japan. He told me his room was those super small kind but very expensive. Oh ya,
i like his phone, sleek looking and could watch TV too.
When we reached the hot spring hotel that night, we went out to a hot spring at a nearby park to soak our feet. But ices suddenly dropped from the sky and we had to run back to the hotel. So scary. If we didn't have the umbrella, the ices would hit our head. But i am glad that we went out, the path to the nearby park looked so much like the scenery that you would see on a postcard.
That night was tatami room again and we had frozen crabs as
dinner. I didn't like it at all. Ice was everywhere on the crabs. Dun think cold food was suitable for me. I had to eat so much rice during this trip to prevent myself from getting hungry. Dunno why i so old already but still always in constant hungry mode. Need to eat every hour. No wonder my colleague commented that i am baby. Coz only baby needs to makan so frequently. Moreover, the weather was so cold that made me wanted to eat even more.
Day 4
On the next day, we went to Ainu village to watch their performance. This tribe claimed that they were not japanese and japanese cheated them by exchanging cheap bowls for the bear hunted by the tribe. They were led to think that the bowls were some expensive stuff compared to their bear skins. So poor thing.
Anyway, that day when i was there, i saw many japanese children were having excursion there and they were so cute. Very cooperative when i asked them to pose for my camera.
In that village, there was this lovely peaceful looking lake. Though the weather was cold, i still cannot stop taking photos of this beautiful lake.
After visiting the village, we had our lunch at a restaurant near the expressway and sea. The salmon steamboat was salty but the sea beside it was beautiful.
Though it was raining soon, we still went to the apple farm and plucked apples to eat. I dunno why the apples were not sweet at all. I thought Japan apples supposed to be good right? But i saw an interesting gadget there. A knife that allowed you to cut the apples into slices (without seeds) with just one cut. But i heard from Cynthia that Ikea got sell this too. Never seen before though.
Day 5
On the next day, we went Jigokudani. Sulphur smell was strong. It was also called the Hell Valley. Smoke was everywhere. There was a saying that if you wash your eyes with the water here, your eyes' sickness will be cured. But i dunno how true was that. The water was so hot.
After that, Donny brought us to seafood market so that we can buy scallops. But i hated it. Luckily i could still took photos with those enormous crabs and interesting fishes.
Donny also brought us to buy chocolates at Li Xiao Lu (Tanoki Koji Shopping Arcade). They were very nice and helped us packed our chocolates into boxes. Got 5% discount too. I bought the honey-melon kit kat there. I heard it can be found only in Hokkaido. I found a store that sold yummy ramen and the pork just melt in your mouth. The friendly waiter even taught me what to put inside my ramen. Must be i was the only young girl there so he only taught me. Heehee.
That day, we reached Sapporo City. Donny brought us to Susukino Ramen Alley to try the top 10 ramen in Hokkaido. But i didn't find it as nice as the one that i ate for lunch. These just tasted like Chinese Ramen.
That day was free & easy so i went to buy my fancl and also shopped around at the 100 yen shops and all those interesting pharmacies. The 100 yen shop in Hokkaido was so much more interesting than the Tokyo ones. Went to the one in Robinson.
My travel partner very cute. She was very persistence in wanting to watch roadside performance. We were lucky that there was a guy singing at the roadside. So carefree and interesting.
We also tried Mac seafood burger for supper. So delicious! Think that was a new flavour.
Oh ya, that day was Halloween Day and many japanese dressed in weird costumes. They were friendly but i didn't dare to ask whether they could take photos with me :(
Day 6
Before we went to the airport, Donny couldn't stand our pestering, he brought us to the factory outlet near the airport. It was huge and i bought a lot of stuff there. I couldn't finish my shopping even though i was late and made the whole bus waited for me.
When we were at the airport, i bought the famous cheesecake that people introduced. There was chocolate and normal flavour. Not very impressive for the chocolate one.
Conclusion
The trip was very interesting, except that i didn't manage to visit the White Chocolate Factory coz it was closed for a month due to selling some overdue chocolates. Sad. I heard it was a very interesting factory.
Oh ya, when i was at Hokkaido. The exchange rate was around 80 yen per dollar. When i went to Tokyo this year, it became 60 yen per dollar. Yen keeps inflating. Sad.
Oops.. Forgot to mention they had vending machines that sold french fries and fried chicken.. So interesting!
Kluang is a small town where all the destinations that we want to go can be walked there.
After that, recommended by the kind auntie at Chop See Kee, we went to try the famous traditional Kway Chap. Yummy and only cost us RM16 for 4-person share. The texture of the kway tasted thicker than Singapore one. But dunno why, i like the kway more than the small dishes that we ordered.
Oh ya, the kind auntie from Chop See Kee also recommended us a famous local shop that sells local products. I bought the Ipoh white coffee powder that my dad wanted from there. Hei Wang brand and only cost RM12.50. Dunno whether Singapore sells or not.
